Effective Leadership Skills: Myers-Briggs Type Indicator

Welcome Back!

Good to see you again. In the past two chapters we visited the traits and skills of a potential leader. We also reflected on how we could develop and deploy them in order to achieve Leadership potential.

A Leadership potential doesn't necessarily mean you are about to take on a big Leadership role. Developing such potential is useful in everyday life, at home and at work, at play and in teams. It makes us successful in what we want to achieve, balanced in our expectations and helps us become better at communicating our ideas and visions.

Most of us view such testing with a some suspicion and a sense of distrust. When I first did one I had the same thoughts 'How can a questionnaire tell me what I am like? ' 'What if I change the answers tomorrow? ' 'Doesn't it depend on what mood I am in ' 'Doesn't it depend on what situation I am thinking of when I answer a particular question '.

The more I looked into the theory and evidence behind it, the better I understood the principles. Let me share this with you, I know you are curious!

1(Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Myers-Briggs, MBTI, STEP III, and Introduction to Type are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator Trust in the United States and other countries.)

'Whatever the circumstances of your life, the understanding of type can make your perceptions clearer, your judgments sounder, and your life closer to your heart's desire...'

In the last chapter, I asked you to reflect on any task you have been involved in leading. How did it make you feel? Did you get it done? Did you have a intuition how it will pan out? Did you enjoy working with a team? Would you rather work alone? Do you prefer logic to gut feeling? Would you like tangible evidence to leaps of faith?

'The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly.'

- Clarence B Randall

Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers | Source

The Myers -Briggs test was originally devised during world War II to analyse women in order to find the right wartime job for them - to look at the best fit for their personality type. It grew from there and is now considered one of the most widely used psychometric assessment tests in the business world.

Origin and Research

Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter Isabel Briggs Myers produced the Myers-Briggs type test based on the works of Swiss Psychiatrist and the founder of analytical Psychology, Carl Gustav Jung. The two women were both interested in people and personalities even before they came across Jung's theories. They were self-confessed' type-watchers' for over 25 years. Watching, observing , reflecting and classifying personality types and behaviors. This hobby helped them to develop a more authoritative test that they put into action in several fields.

The test was originally used during world War II to analyse women in order to find the right wartime job for them - to look at the best fit for their personality type. It grew from there and is now considered one of the most widely used psychometric assessment tests in the business world. The test was also trialed in the George Washington School of Medicine where it was applied to over 5000 freshmen. Isabel Briggs-Myers and her team were able to study the students longitudinally, looking for patterns of success and for those who dropped out. They then co-related it with the original test outcomes.

The predictive value has been considerably enhanced through wide application, research and refinement. The Test went through several incarnations until reaching its current, robust form.

Myers - Briggs four core dichotomies | Source

Carl Gustav Jung ( 1875-1961)

The four core dichotomies are:

Introvert (I) - Extravert (E)

Sensing (S) - Intuition (N)

Thinking (T) - Feeling (F)

Judging (J) - Perceiving (P)

Four Core Dichotomies

The MBTI test is based on Jungian four dichotomies in our personality. These dichotomies are Introvert- Extravert, Sensing-Intuition, Thinking-Feeling, and Judging -Perceiving

These come under Attitude, Information gathering, Decision making and how we structure and organised ourselves.

Where do you direct your energy to?

If you direct your energy more inward experiences and working alone you are likely to have the type 'Introvert' (I)

if you direct your energy outwards towards being in groups and teams you will be an 'Extravert' (E)

How do you gather and perceive your information?

If you take information in through what you see and perceive through your sense, you are 'Sensing' (S)

If you can recognize patterns and inter-relationships focusing beyond what you see you have 'Intuition' (N)

How do you process and discern information and draw conclusions?

If you do this based on logical analysis, objectivity and detachment you are ' Thinking' (T)

If you do this based on personal and social values, focusing on understanding and harmony you are 'Feeling' (F)

How do you express your conclusions to the external world?

If you express this based on your discernment processes ( I Thinking , I Feel) you are Judging (J)

If you express this based on ne of the perceiving processes ( I see, I sense) you are Perceiving (P)

The 16 combinations of types | Source

When you undertake the test that comprises of a series of questions. You will be scored and allocated one of the 16 types. Remember Myers-Briggs is more about your preference rather than a black and white description of your personality. You may respond to both ends of the dichotomies at situations but feel more comfortable with your preferred type than the other.

The Combinations of Types

As your would have worked out by now. The combination of the four pairs of dichotomies gives us 16 different permutations of personality type. These are classified for simplicity according to the subset of alphabets of their traits.

They will have a preference of introversion and take their energy from their inner thoughts and musings. They are organised personally and feel a sense of purpose in life. They then set about achieving it with quiet efficiency. They have a sense about people but they may never express it.

The prefer working in a organised manner and are completer- inishers who get the job done. They are serious, sincere and work well within a structure. They can get annoyed at lack of structure and like getting things to the right place at the right time. They are always committed to the cause.

While this may sound like a bit of Cheiromancy or Tarot reading, it is very much grounded on science and evidence base.

When you undertake the test that comprises of a series of questions. You will be scored and allocated one of the 16 types. The test could be done during recruitment, as part of job interviews and many walks of professional life. It needs to be done and interpreted by experts so don't be fooled by many crude imitations that are floating around on the internet.

I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure: which is: Try to please everybody.

- Herbert B. Swope

You are Sensing a Conclusion

Hopefully, this has given you an overview of MBTI and familiarise you with the concepts. You may not necessarily feel the urge to go right out and get this test done. Don't worry, there are other ways of analysing your leadership styles in a simpler more practical ways too. In the next chapter , we can go right to the basics and discuss what Carl Jung says about our fundamental personality archetypes buried deep within our subsconscious.

We will discuss how these archetypes influence the way we think and react. We will know whether you like being a Good Mother, a Wise King, a Magician or a Warrior! Before that, let us see how you set about completing a task. Take the following simple quiz and see whether you are an Autocrat or a Democrat. I'll explain Situational Leadership in the next chapter.

Until then, there is plenty for you to be reflecting on. Thank you for your interest.

Comments

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Justina 18 months ago

A plus.what a brilliant skills.much more to learn u got meee like seriously..

Victoria Lynn 5 years agofrom Arkansas, USA

Ecellent hub on a fascinating topic. I took this test years ago. It was so much fun to see what makes people different. All of those personality types can be effective in so many ways. Many votes. Great job!

Cynthia Sageleaf 5 years agofrom Western NC

Very cool! I took this test several times - once in college, once when I became a teacher, and once recently to figure out what I could do with myself besides teaching. Ha! I alternated between INFP and INFJ. But, it's no wonder I love writing, art, theatre, and having cultural experiences. Thanks for sharing this.

drbj and sherry 5 years agofrom south Florida

Excellent introduction to Myers-Briggs, Docmo. As I have commented before, the MBTI is one of my preferred instruments for determining an individual's personality preferences. I utilized many of the Myers-Briggs principles in formulating my "One Question Personality Test" (published as a Hub) which is surprisingly accurate.

Ruby Jean Fuller 5 years agofrom Southern Illinois

Well i certainly got caught up in this article. I learned a lot, for example, I am an ISTJ and a democrat, YEA..Great hub!!!

Nithya Venkat 5 years agofrom Dubai

Lots to think about and ponder. Interesting analysis. Voted up.

Michael Kromwyk 5 years agofrom Adelaide, South Australia

I find MBTI to be a great and inexpensive way to get to know your team and how you need to manage them. Recently I've started to also use whole brain thinking as this adds another level and dimension to how to manage people.

Thanks for this history as well...I learned a lot in this hub. Cheers Michael